MINUTES OF THE FOURTH QUARTER MUNICIPAL PLANNING AND CO-ORDINATING UNIT MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, 28TH JANUARY, 2025 AT THE MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY HALL.
PRESENTATION ON THE 2026-2029 PLANNING GUIDELINES
Mr. Henry Daniels, the Municipal Development Planning Officer led the presentation on the 2026-2029 District Medium-term Development Plan (2026-2029 DMTDP) guidelines. He gave the background to the preparation of the guidelines.
He stated that the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) regulates planning practices through legislative instruments and guidelines; thus the National Development Planning (System) Act, Act 480, and the National Development Planning (System) Regulations 2016, L.I. 2232). NDPC has over the years issued guidelines to direct the preparation of Medium-Term Development Plans for MDAs, RCCs and MMDAs. The Planning Guideline is to guide the presentation of the plans MDA, RCC and MMDAs for the next planning period (2026-2029).
He pointed out that the Planning Guidelines seeks to;
• Facilitate the preparation of medium-term development plans within the context of various development agendas.
• Promote consistency in development plans across sectors and regions.
• Ensure monitoring and evaluation of plan implementation.
• Provide tools and techniques for plan preparation.
The process for the preparation of Medium-Term Development Plan include; Composition of
Plan Preparation Teams; Collaboration with other Institutions and Stakeholders such as Departments, Units, Agencies and Civil Society Organizations; Public Hearing and Popular Participation and Technical Support, etc.
The MPO further highlighted the format and contents for the 2026-2029 Medium-Term Development Plan with focus on emerging and cross cutting themes to be reflected throughout as follows :
- Chapter One: General Introduction; the general introduction of the MTDP should briefly outline the background of the MDA, RCC, and MMDAs, including their vision, mission, functions, mandate, and a locational map (if applicable). It should also provide an overview of the structure and content of the document.
- Chapter Two: Situational Analysis of the MMDA; this section of the MTDP provides a data-driven situational analysis. In collaboration with statistical officers, appropriate data should be used to understand and examine the existing conditions and diagnosis (Economy, Environment, Social, Governance, etc.) and demonstrate development implications for the situational analysis. It also consists of identification of key development issues; performance review (including financial performance) on the 2022-2025 MTDP and Medium-term needs assessment (Projections).
- Chapter Three: Key Development Priorities; The key development issues from chapter two should be prioritised based on agreed criteria and a prioritisation tool. Examples of the agreed criteria are; Severity and diversity of the problem and intended benefits (social, economic, environmental etc.) of addressing it; Significant multiplier effect on economic efficiency, e.g., attraction of investors, job creation, increases in incomes and growth; Significant linkage effect on meeting basic human needs and rights. Provide a brief narrative on how the prioritisation was done and why specific issues were prioritized. Indicate the tool(s) that was used for the prioritization and provide brief reasons for its usage.
- Chapter Four: Development Goals, Objectives and Strategies; Under this chapter MDA/MMDA/RCC are to formulate their respective development goals, objectives and strategies. The goals, objectives and strategies formulated should reflect their Spatial Development Framework and Structure plans. The Matrix should be used to capture formulated Goals, Objectives and strategies and its alignment with National Objectives.
- Chapter Five: Composite Development Programmes; Development Programmes should be formulated based on the strategies in chapter four. The programmes should be broad to encompass multiple strategies. Development programmes for the medium-term must include that for: Monitoring and evaluation, Communication, Maintenance of assets, Knowledge management and learning and joint development programmes. Programme Financing; Indicative Financial Strategy covering the period 2026-2029 should be developed for the development programmes. In instances where resource deficits are detected, a write-up should be provided on how additional financing will be secured to bridge the funding gap using the Integrated Assembly Financing Framework (IAFF) as a guide.
- Chapter Six: Annual Action Plans; Projects should be formulated annually for implementation out of the development programmes in chapter five. These could be new or ongoing projects. The cost of the projects should take into consideration the medium-term expenditure framework as provided by the Ministry of Finance. MDA/RCC/MMDA should develop concept notes for each of the identified infrastructure or investment projects to build a project portfolio in line with the PFM (Public Investment Regulation), 2020 (LI 2411).
- Chapter Seven: Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements; The plan should contain an arrangement for monitoring and evaluation for the entire plan implementation period. The M&E arrangement may include data collection, field visits, rapid assessments of interventions, and preparing monitoring or evaluation reports, among others. All M&E and PM&E activities should be captured as part of the POA and AAP to facilitate implementation. Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements also include stakeholder analysis and Knowledge Management and Learning (KML) framework.
- Chapter Eight: Development Communication Strategy; Formulate a communication strategy tailored to the objectives of the MTDP for transparent and efficient execution. Consider the following in developing the strategy: Clearly define the goals of the communication, clearly identify target audience including gender and vulnerable groups, Develop key messages tailored to targeted audience, Identify and determine the best channels to reach target audience and Develop indicators to assess the effectiveness of communication strategy.
The MPO concluded by giving the timelines for the preparation and submission of the draft and final MTDP to National Development Planning Commission through the Regional Coordinating Council.
Discussions
Mr. Baah of the Department of Education asked about the specific role(s) of the units and departments in the planning process.
The MPO in response said the various heads or representatives of departments and units would be on the plan preparation teams to be set up and also templates would be sent out to all units/department to fill as part of the planning process. The templates will center on the progress of implementation of the 2022-2025 MTDP’s performance review and the 2026-2029 MTDP projections, estimates and or targets.
Presentations and discussions of 2024 Annual Progress Reports of Departments/Units
Business Resource Centre (BRC)
The presentation for the Business Resource Centre was led by Mr. Sarkodie, the department head. He said their vision is to create a vibrant entrepreneurial economy by fostering the growth and development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which informed their programs and activities for the year, 2024. Some of the activities undertaken included; Group Promotion which aimed to develop, promote and sustain Local Business Associations for 97 (52 male, 45 female) participants in financial management and records keeping; The office liaised with RGD to register MSMEs through its Formalization of Business program; Management Trainings were held to build the capacity of businesses where MSMEs (633 beneficiaries) were trained on Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Kaizen, Marketing, etc.; other programs such as Business in a Box Project, Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (YUSTART), Market Women Fund all aimed at providing funding and financial assistance for business growth and development were carried out.
NETCODA
The presentation was done by Mr. Daniel Nana Appiah. His report was mostly centered on institutional collaborations with the Assembly and its departments in the area of promoting inclusive governance, education and healthcare delivery in line with their mission to empower, connect, and enable citizens, communities, and local government authorities to work together to achieve sustainable development. The CSO held a joint municipal level health and education officials and the social action group member(sag) stakeholder meeting to discuss teenage pregnancy and its effect on health and education in municipality; town hall meeting with communities mostly affected by teenage pregnancy and its impact on health and education (Subi and Asuom sub- municipals); to improve educational outcomes, NETCODA held town hall meetings with communities for their school performance appraisal meetings (spam) in Adankrono and Twumwusu (where some schools recorded zero percent BECE pass rates) in collaboration with the education directorate; the organization also sponsored the Susubiribi FM spelling competition “spelling bee”. In the area of governance, they participated in the MPCU meetings of the Assembly and was very instrumental in the inauguration of the five sub-structures across the Municipal.
Mr. Awal of CDD in commending Mr. Nana Appiah for their collaborations added that there is the need to institute a league table to rank and support most performing zonal councils in other to increase their development outcomes and revenue generation mechanisms.
Department of Works
The department of works was represented by its Head, Mr. Thomas Anwumanyi. His presentation mainly focused on development projects carried out in the year under review. Some of the completed projects included Construction of 1No. 3-Unit Classroom Block with KVIP toilet facility at Abodom; Construction of 1No. 24m x 30m Durbar Grounds with Mechanized Borehole and Overhead Tank at Akim Tweapease among others which were at various levels of completion. Other activities were the implementation of the operations and maintenance plan.
Finance department
Mr. Richmond Ekuadzi, Head of finance led the presentation on the financial operations on the Assembly during the 2024 reporting year. His presentation revolved around revenue mobilization mechanisms, Internally Generated Revenue performance and funds disbursement. Some of the specific activities included formation of revenue taskforce, procurement of value books and embarking on pay your levy campaigns. He reported that the Assembly’s annual IGF revenue performance was GHȻ1,461,138.24 representing 94.55 percent of the annual budget of GHȻ 1,545,279.00 and approximately 31.62 increase over the previous year’s.
Contributing to the efforts in revenue mobilization, Mr. Nana Appiah advised that the Assembly should take opportunity of the regular Wednesday prayer meetings of most churches to aid in the campaign on rate payment.
The chairman of the Development Planning Sub-committee, Mr. Isaac Amoako raised concerns about the reluctance of some occupants of the Assembly’s store to pay their rents. He added that the lack of street lights in parts of the market was also a cause for worry and must be addressed.
The MFO in response said management has a plan to kick start a major restructuring project in the market. He urged the honorable members of the Assembly to support the project when started.
Department of social welfare and community development
Presenting on the activities of the office, its departmental head, Mr. Augustine Atigah highlighted most of the social interventions of the Assembly aimed at creating opportunities for all within the Municipality. Key activities carried out in 2024 included; Child protection, Justice administration, Community care, Registration and monitoring of Persons with disability (PWD), Disbursement of (88th to 93rd payment cycle) LEAP funds among others.
Department of Agriculture
Presentation on the annual report of the department of Agric was done by Mr. Felix Ansah on behalf of the head of department. The presentation included all the agricultural programmes and activities that took place in the Municipality such as institutional collaboration, demonstration, home and farm visits etc.
As part of the farmers’ day celebrations, he outlined some of the processes involved in selecting best performing farmers for the various categories of awards.
MCD commended the department of Agric on bringing out some of their challenges they faced during their field visits and monitoring and also providing ways by which such challenges were addressed. She encouraged other members to also report on their troubled zones and provide how such are remedied.
The director of the National Health insurance Authority, Mr. Hanson Brako said there is a high incidence of rabbis in the Municipality since dog meat is a delicacy and people turned to rear more of such domestic animals. He therefore urged the Assembly to collaborate closely with the department of Agric through its veterinary officers in vaccinating dogs against the diseases whiles providing revenue at the same time.
Physical Planning Department
Reporting on the activities for the year, Mr. Emmanuel K. Agyei, the head of PPD said the department exists to plan, manage and promote harmonious sustainable and cost-effective development of human settlements in the municipality and in accordance with sound environmental and planning principles. Some its annual activities implemented included but not limited to the preparation of local plans for Abodom sector 1&2 and three planning schemes; Street Naming Exercise through the acquisition of images, digitization, geo referencing, ground truthing, errection of 80 signages at Asuom and building controls etc.
Birth and Death Registry
The Municipal Registrar of the Birth and Death Registry, Mr. Benjamin Nyarko Quansah presented on their programs executed for the year, 2024. He said the mission of the registry is to provide accurate, timely and reliable information on all Births and Deaths occurring in Ghana for socio-economic development of the country through their registration and certification. He further stated that the Registry’s prime objective is to register all births within twelve months of occurrence and all deaths before burial by embarking on sensitization and outreach programs in the various towns and villages within the municipality. He stressed on the need to acquire a birth certificate at infant stage for all new-borns in other to curb the influx of foreigners acquiring Ghanaian birth certificates to secure jobs and other opportunities that here thereto the sole preserves of Ghanaians. He reported the summary of births registered within twelve (12) months of occurrence as 1,149 with more males (604) than females (545) and deaths before burial as 101 also with more males (53) than females (48). He raised concerns about the total registered deaths within the year as the number was far below the actual burials done in the Municipality. He suggested that the Assembly liaised with the various morgues to inspect and demand burial permits before releasing corpse to bereaved families to ensure total coverage.
Mr. Nana Appiah commended the Registrar for the insightful presentation and urged him to do same during one of the General Assembly meetings to sensitize members on the need for the two legal documents.
Department of Education
Mr. Samuel Baah led the presentation on behalf of the Education Directorate. He said the department’s activities were implemented in line with the GES objectives to increase inclusive and equitable access to and participation in education at Pre-tertiary level, improve quality of teaching and learning and improve management of education service delivery. Key among the programs were the celebration of My First Day at School where about 1,439 KG and primary 1 students selected from 22 schools were given exercise books, soft drinks and biscuits to welcome them to their new classes; orientation for newly-trained and recruited teachers; monitoring and evaluation of educational activities; participation in the regional STEM camp for basic schools and junior science and mathematics quiz; organization of KG festival of arts and 2024 BECE sensitization and registration.
All the presentations were face with similar challenges and key among them were logistical and financial limitations.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Assistant Development Planning Officer, Mr. Patrick Okletey informed members to kindly submit their templates and Annual reports on time to help the MPCU secretariat prepare and submit the Assembly’s fourth quarter and annual progress reports to the relevant stakeholders.